D.C. Residents Challenge Handgun Roster

WASHINGTON (CN) – Residents of the District of Columbia and a gun-rights group are challenging the city’s exemptions to an approved handgun roster as “irrational and arbitrary,” in Federal Court. The Second Amendment Foundation says the roster, adopted to limit the availability of handguns, excludes “innumerable guns whose possession is protected by the Second Amendment.”

The District of Columbia banned unregistered handguns and adopted California’s Safe Handgun Roster, a list of acceptably “safe” handguns. The plaintiffs say D.C. unconstitutionally barred a handful of guns from the roster – including revolvers, semi-automatic handguns, center-fire semi-automatic handguns and “rimfire” semi-automatic handguns – unless the weapons have specific safety devices. Gun manufacturers whose products don’t meet the rosters safety requirements have to pay a $200 annual fee for inclusion on the “safe handgun” list. “Otherwise safe handguns, that have passed California’s ‘safety’ tests, do not become ‘unsafe’ merely because an annual fee is not paid by their manufacturer,” the lawsuit claims. The District of Columbia allegedly refused to let the individual plaintiffs register their guns based on the roster, even though the Second Amendment clearly entitles them to possession. They demand a permanent injunction against enforcement of the handgun restrictions. They are represented by Alan Gura with Gura & Possessky.